A P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E R O B E RT N U S B A U M C E N T E R AT V I R G I N I A W E S L E YA N U N I V E R S I T Y
DIVERSITY
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DIALOGUE
THE MISSION:
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FAITH
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SUMMER 2021
FREEDOM
Embracing a Third Way
Author Rosemary Bray writes, We begin the Constitution with, ‘We, the People’... even though (the Founding Fathers) didn’t mean me! They had no idea I’d ever make a claim like that. And they’d have been horrified if they’d known that any of us would. But you can’t let that powerful an idea out into the world without consequences.
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ounding Fathers James Madison and Thomas Jefferson may not have imagined an African American U.S. President, but they never doubted that the civil liberties of the American people needed protecting. In 1995, that recognition inspired Bob Nusbaum to write a letter that led to the creation of Virginia Wesleyan’s Center for the Study of Religious Freedom. As the Center entered its second quarter century, it was recognized that what was most central to our identity were values that had been important to Bob’s own identity: diversity, dialogue, faith, and freedom. Bob recognized the fragility of those values. If diversity and dialogue are not seen as strengths, our nation becomes something different than what the founders intended. Politics and religion aren’t the only issues of contention in modern America. Issues surrounding race, gender, sexuality, and even face masks create huge chasms between well-intentioned people of different perspectives. How can those issues be addressed without rancor or screams? Without passive-aggressive silence? Without unfair characterizations?
The Robert Nusbaum Center seeks to do just that. We moderate tough discussions. We teach students and community members to do the same. We model a third way in what increasingly seems like a black-and-white, two-way world. With your continued support, we’ll make a difference.
THE PAST:
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Strategic Empathy and Steps to Healing Rifts
t the Robert Nusbaum Center, we know that there are steps that each of us can take to meaningfully engage differences. Those steps require that we speak less, understand more, and act with strategic empathy. The enclosed card –Steps to Healing Rifts – is a shorthand description of a training session we’ve led for the League of Women Voters and others. We hope you will join us for one of those training sessions in the future. These steps also were used during the pandemic, as the Nusbaum Center engaged students. We led discussions about renaming buildings and removing statues on college campuses. We brought together College Republicans, Student Government, and Young Democrats in reaching across political divides. “The most valuable aspect of the program,” one student said, “was to be in a welcoming environment to discuss politics and current events without being judged.” It is a model we embrace for the future. Among other events, the Center sponsored a traveling art exhibition on “Unity Flags.” The exhibition originally was created for the third presidential debate last October in Nashville, where the organizers invited flags representing unity from each of the 50 states. The Robert Nusbaum
Center was chosen to design the flag that represented the Commonwealth of Virginia. The flag (seen here) includes both hearts – alluding to the Commonwealth’s motto – and a lighthouse, which represents both our location and the importance of hope, illuminating the darkness. This traveling exhibit then arrived on our own campus during the week of the inauguration of President Joe Biden. A total of 84 students on campus were involved in projects that focused on American identity and unity.
THE FUTURE:
LACRELA, and the IN[HEIR]ITANCE PROJECT: Race Matters
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OVID-19’s disproportionate impact on minorities. Continued police killings of unarmed people of color. The increase in hate crimes. Emboldened white nationalists. Those are just four of the realities that demonstrate disturbing inequities in our nation. The good news is that there seems to be new vigor among American citizens of all races to advance racial equity. To that end, this coming year the Robert Nusbaum Center will focus on two new initiatives that will help. Virginia Wesleyan recently joined an alliance with over 70 other liberal arts institutions. The Liberal Arts Colleges Racial Equity Leadership Alliance (LACRELA) connects college and university presidents, facilitates collaboration among faculty and staff, highlights best practices, and provides access to high-quality resources and data. The Nusbaum Center is leading VWU’s efforts to involve faculty and staff in monthly learning sessions and develop action recommendations. Our participation
THE CHARGE:
NIA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY Y | D I A LO G U E | FA I T H | F R E E D O M
Issues of race influence and impact everyone. Please join us as we model new approaches to continued challenges.
Our Hopes For You
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strengthens the Nusbaum Center’s role as a strategic leader for racial equity and inclusion, both on-campus and in the community. This fall, the Nusbaum Center will join with community partners to welcome the In[HEIR]itance Project, a national arts organization that collaborates with communities to stimulate substantive community-wide conversations that, in turn, lead to the creation of an original performance. The performance intertwines the collected lived experiences of people in Hampton Roads with specific moments from the book of Exodus, drawing parallels between themes of exodus and the role that race has played in human migration throughout the region. The collaboratively created theatre piece will be presented at the 2022 Virginia Arts Festival.
e look forward to seeing you later this year. Until then we want to recommend two of our favorite books. Peter Boghossian and James Lindsay’s How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide is – as they describe it – “the manual everyone needs to foster a climate of civility, connection, and empathy.” The other book is a children’s book entitled My Country ‘Tis of Thee: How One Song Reveals the History of Civil Rights. In describing the various verses that were added to this song, Claire Rudolf Murphy highlights how patriotism and protest go hand in hand. Patriotism is not nationalism. It recognizes that our promise still lies in the future. We have high hopes, even as we plan on leading a study trip to Israel next January. The Robert Nusbaum Center strives to ensure that the beautiful eclipses the grotesque, that hope eclipses despair, and that peace eclipses anger. But we can’t do it without your support. On behalf of the late Bob Nusbaum and everyone at VWU, we thank you.
Craig and Kelly ROBERT NUSBAUM CENTER VIRGINIA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY D I V E R S I T Y | D I A LO G U E | FA I T H | F R E E D O M
Craig Wansink, Ph.D., Joan P. and Macon F. Brock, Jr. Director, Robert Nusbaum Center and Professor and Chair, Department of Religious Studies Kelly Jackson, Associate Director for the Robert Nusbaum Center 757.455.3129 | vwu.edu/nusbaumcenter | NusbaumCenter@vwu.edu